The big, crunchy peanuts that are embedded within the soft dough creates such a taste and texture contrast.

The saltiness of the peanuts cuts some of the inherent sweetness of the butterscotch chips, making the cookies the quintessential salty-and-sweet treat.

One of my 2013 baking promises to myself was to bake with butterscotch more often because I just love the flavor. I went through a little spurt with butterscotch, but it had been awhile and these hit the spot.

The cinnamon isn’t overt, and stays in the background, but adds another subtle layer of flavor.

If you like soft with crunchy, salty with sweet, honey roasted peanuts or butterscotch, I have a feeling you won’t be able to keep your hands out of the cookie jar.

They have me recanting, just a bit, about shunning nuts in desserts overall. But I promise that I’ll never put nuts in Carrot Cake or Banana Bread.

Soft and Chewy Honey Roasted Peanuts and Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Big, crunchy, honey roasted peanuts that are embedded within soft dough create a taste and texture contrast in these soft cookies. The saltiness of the peanuts cuts some of the sweetness of the butterscotch chips, making the cookies the quintessential salty-and-sweet treat. The dough is adapted from my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough and uses cornstarch, my secret weapon for creating soft, chewy, and tender cookies, every time.

Directions:

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).

Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.

Add the butterscotch chips, peanuts and beat momentarily to incorporate, less than 1 minute, or fold in by hand.

Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping two tablespoon mounds (I made 25). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.

Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat, or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 9 minutes for soft cookies because they firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark. They have chewy edges with soft, gooey centers). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Store cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.